I have officially launched the Sheba Turk Youtube Channel! When I started this blogging journey, I shared that I am always look for ways to improve myself and the projects I am working on. I wanted to enhance the conversations that I am having on my blog by adding video.

These videos will be unscripted, honest conversations and stories that are all about being the best version of me. It's the real conversations that I have with those closest to me. I'll be talking a lot about my career in the news industry, but I think those conversations will touch on topics that people in any industry can relate to- strategies for advancing the work place, how I got to where I am.... my hair struggles. We have so much to discuss! Join the conversation. Subscribe to my Youtube Channel!

“Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough.” - Oprah Winfrey

People are always commenting that I am always positive and happy. I will say that it is rare that I am not. To be clear, it is not because my life is filled with rainbows and joy. One of my strengths has always been my ability to focus on the good not the bad, and I have found value in this ability. Being grateful has always helped me shift my perspective from negativity, loss, and heartbreak to the good things in my life and most importantly the future.

GRATITUDE KEEPS THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE

Gratitude simply means being thankful. I have a lot to be thankful for – a loving family, wonderful boyfriend, supportive friends, amazing mentors, a great job, my dogs- I could go on and on. I also have a lot of things in my life that I feel are unfair, that frustrate me- things that I am not thankful for. Even just mentally envisioning them, I feel more frustrated and defeated, but when I think about the things I am happy for I feel uplifted. For most of my life, I shifted my focus to the positive unconsciously. I was always a glass half full kind of girl. As I got older and life got harder, I realized that I was consciously telling myself to think about good things. And when I did, I felt more motivated to keep working towards making my life filled with even more good. Being grateful helps me think about what I do have, instead of what I don’t. It helps shift my spirit from defeated to motivated.

BEING GRATEFUL ALLOWS ME TO BE HAPPY

The beautiful thing about being able to focus on the positive is that very little bothers me. I am freed from a lot of the worry I could bring on myself, and I say bring on myself because it is a choice. I choose not to worry about bad things going on because I think about them differently. I went through a really rough time emotionally when I ran out of money for college in New York and moved back home to New Orleans. I must admit I did not appreciate the way things unfolded in that situation for years. But when I finally realized that I was meant to end up back in New Orleans because opportunities were waiting for me here, I promised I would never doubt God’s plan and be ungrateful again. Now, if I feel I am being overlooked or passed over for an opportunity, I know there must be something much bigger in store for me. When I lose someone important to me because we are seeing things differently or they wronged me in some way, I understand that God is removing them from my life for a reason. When I find myself behind on my financial goals, I know that God is telling me work harder or rethink my financial strategizes to be more efficient, which will make me stronger financially in the future. Look at how many major problems I was just able to turn into positives!

GIVE GRATITUDE TIME TO KICK IN

For anyone thinking this whole gratitude deal is not always realistic, you are right. Like I said, in some cases my appreciation for a situation didn’t come until years after it happened. My initial reaction isn’t always gratitude. Sometimes it’s anger, frustration, or disappointment. And I think it’s important to honor those initial emotions. The key for me is not letting those emotions consume me or my actions even if they are justified. How many times do we tell a friend about a situation so that they can validate our emotions? “Oh yeah girl, I’d be mad too.” I seek that validation sometimes to justify being negative and all I am doing is allowing myself to stay in that negative space. It’s important for me to acknowledge that my feelings are valid, but gratitude allows me to move past that to a more productive space. That’s why gratitude is my most powerful weapon. It is empowering to know negative people and circumstances cannot defeat me because I have learned how to move right past them and cherish all the good I have and all that is yet to come.

Happy birthday to my fellow amazing Aquarians! I love my birthday. It’s the true start to a new year for me. Getting one year older always gets me thinking about how far I’ve come and how far I have to go. As the years go by, it is so interesting to see life fall into place and feel that I am moving forward with more clarity about the world around me and myself. Here are some realizations I have had that are helping me be better in the next year of my life:

AGING IS AUTOMATIC, EVERYTHING ELSE REQUIRES WORK!

The older, the wiser. Things get better with time…..

The world is full of sayings that lead us to believe that all we have to do is keep waking up and magically we will end up smarter, better…improved. The older I am getting the more I am learning that’s not true. There are certainly old people who are not wise. There are old people who are bitter, still carrying wounds and regret from the past, not where they want to be …etc. My point is simply getting older means nothing but that…we’re older. If we want to be wiser, stronger, or move past a pain or heartache, that requires more deliberate action than just getting older. I am being conscious to not just be older but to carry new knowledge and tools into my old age. If you have an anger problem, struggling with being a pushover…etc…just getting older won’t help, we have to decide to actively make change to be different tomorrow.

DON'T LET EVERYONE IN

I always say I am a people person who hates people. I am truly an extrovert. I feed off people’s energy. I am revived by going to lunch with friends or having a great conversation. In high school, I was the girl who had 10 best friends, until one by one I started realizing all of these “best friends” didn’t have my best interest at heart. I am naturally friendly, but I have had to learn to guard myself and not befriend everyone who approaches with a smile. People have motives and will let you down.

PULL THE TRIGGER

This year, I really want to work on moving forward despite being a little off my plans. I sat down at 22 and said I will move to another city and give reporting a shot when I have “x” number of dollars in the bank as a safety net. I wanted things to be perfect and if I would have waited to save that money I wouldn’t be where I am today. I still struggle with holding off on my dreams and goals because I have made up some other stipulations that I decide “need” to happen first. I am learning that things will never be perfect. Big decisions involve risk and if I wait and wait, I will miss out on a lot of opportunities.

I recently did a revamp of my desk space and accidentally cleaned up along the way. All of my co-workers thought I was quitting. That should tell you how often I clean! I admit I am a mess. Not so much me, but everything that surrounds me. I am comfortable in mess. I don’t mind clean spaces, but I wholeheartedly believe the effort it takes to clean and keep things clean could be spent doing something more productive. I want to be clear- I am not dirty. I don’t like smelly stuff. I would never leave food just sitting around. I have my limits. Numerous studies show messy people are more creative and intelligent. So basically would you rather be clean or a genius?!

With that being said, I have always admired the cute office spaces I see in magazines and on Pinterest. So one of my 2017 goals was to make my work space one that reflected me better. I wanted it to be a space that I'm happy to sit in every morning. I get in the office at 3:30am, and I want my desk to scream “Good morning! Have a wonderful day!”

Color Coordinated!

I started with color. Pink is my favorite and I’m obsessed with gold these days so this made the perfect combo for my new desk accessories.

A CUTE MUG

I start my day with a cup of green tea, so I needed a mug that would make me smile. This one was a gift from my boyfriend’s mom. It has a puppy on it! Smile complete.

FLOWERS

I love flowers! These are fake and have been living on my desk for several years. I just dusted them off and bam…new life!

Functionality

I already had a stapler and post-its but they were not pink so they had to go. I grabbed some cute, cheap pink supplies from Office Depot and ordered this pink metal mesh desk organizer from Ebay for $15 to complete the look!